Why WE Love the Light Bulb Project

Newburgh has become synonymous with the light bulb because of the Newburgh Illuminated festival that started in 2013 and was based loosely on the history of Thomas Edison's work in the river city.

During that inaugural year, a small art supply store in downtown launched a collaborative add-on that is known as the light bulb project. They operate separately financially (proceeds do not directly benefit the festival) but have become a beloved compliment to the celebration.

Pete Seeger by Rachel Williams Weidkam

We love the light bulb project because artists are tagged to develop and design a giant light bulb canvas that gets placed up around town in front of storefronts. The raw materials/canvas is provided and artists can interpret in a variety of methods and materials. The finished pieces get a lot of mileage post-event. They have been seen beyond Newburgh in Cornwall, New Windsor and even Beacon. They provide a sort of year-long guerilla marketing campaign for the city of Newburgh its annual June festival. In two years over 140 artists participated. Some of the designs are infamous, now. Event organizer Gerardo Castro wrote, "The Lightbulb Project is to bring awareness of how important the arts are to our lives and community. I want everyone that strolls the streets of our city to interact and experience art on a daily basis and it has worked. Without history, a society shares no common memory of where it has been, what its core values are, or what decisions of the past account for present circumstances. Newburgh’s History connects us to the light bulb!"

This weekend -February 13 - 15th 2016 - there will be a call to artists to volunteer to decorate one of the 4' high bulbs. Check facebook for updates.

Sponsorships are also being sought: $100 gets your name on the bulb and temporary use of it before bulbs are auctioned off in July.

$500 is ab outright purchase of the bulb (forgoing auction). 50% of the proceeds go to the project and 50% go to the artist. (Nice perk!)

This year our fiscal sponsor is "The Fullerton Mansion Center for Culture and History" a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. All donations to this project are tax-deductible. This year's fiscal sponsor is - the Fullerton Mansion Center for Culture and History - a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

Buffey Favata's 2014 contribution to the project

The sponsorship form is available at Newburgh Art Supply and via the Lightbulb project website.